June Artman

ILS 655/S70-1

Final Documentation for Digital Library Project

April 18, 2009

One of the biggest changes I made to my digital library project since writing the initial documentation for it was that I did not use Greenstone to create it, due to the University not having a server. Instead, I created HTML pages, using a variety of shareware which is available on the web and is free to use. I used a flatbed scanner to scan images to use for my project. I used Polyview 4.402 to convert TIFF images into JPEG’s. Then I used Polyview to create thumbnail albums of the JPEG images and published the thumbnails to my web pages. For more information, go to http://www.polybytes.com. I used Netscape Communicator 4.79, http://browser.netscape.com/releases, to edit and add pictures and text to each of my pages. As I was building my digital library, I would check my web pages for broken links using Xenu Link Sleuth. For more information, go to http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html. I downloaded a free edition of Zoom indexer at http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/editions.html to make an index of my site. I also downloaded a free WSFTP program for uploading files to the web at http://www.oldversion.com/WS_FTP-Limited-Edition.html#download. I also downloaded a free PDF writer from http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp, to create PDF files for my digital library. Another change I made to my project was that I focused solely on the history of the Ebenezer Riggs family of Oxford, CT. I did this simply because there was several generations of the Riggs family in Oxford, and I could not do all of them in the course of one semester.

1. Title: Ebenezer Riggs Family History in Oxford, CT Digital Library.

2. Mission Statement: To provide an indexed and searchable historical collection of information about the Ebenezer Riggs family, who resided in Oxford throughout the 1800’s, to the residents of Oxford, CT.

3. Collection: The scope of this collection consists of materials from the early to late 1800’s and are all owned by the Oxford Historical Society. All of the materials are considered public domain and consist of handwritten and type written articles, photos and maps of Ebenezer Riggs Family homestead and history in the Town of Oxford. All of the materials are in English. There were several generations of the Riggs family in Oxford, dating back as far as the late 1600’s and remaining until the late 1800’s. This collection focuses on the history of Ebenezer Riggs, born January 26, 1806, and his family.

4. Organization: The collection has a single index, based on document text, so it is keyword searchable. Users can search the site by typing in one or more keywords. I used the Zoom indexer to create an index for my digital library. I created a PDF plug-in for the digital library, which is the only plug-in I used. The majority of the library is in html format, which most users around the world can access because their equipment can support it. The indexed collection includes hyperlinks, text and digitized items such as maps, photos and handwritten text.

5. Resource Description: I used Dublin Core Standard to describe each item and resource in my collection.

6. Access and Use: I used the Zoom indexer to make an index of my site. It allows users to conduct keyword searches, and they can choose if they want to use one or more keywords to search with.

7. Service Features: The service features of this collection will be that users can view full text documents in their HTML version as well as in their original PDF scanned version. Many handwritten documents will need to have a HTML plain text MSWord version as well as an original PDF version to make them more legible. The entire scanned text collection is printable, so users will be able to print out the entire collection, if desired.

8. Interface design: The homepage of my digital library will have the title of the collection, my name, and course number. It also states the library’s mission as well as a detailed description of the library’s collection. In the collection description section of this page, there are links included in the text that take you to various pages in the collection. It also has hyperlinks to many related websites about the history of the Riggs family in Oxford, CT. In addition, it will have a search page link, a send feedback link and an about link. The send feedback link will send an email to my personal email address, so that I can monitor any user comments or problems with the site.

9. Enhancement, Evaluation &/or Maintenance plan- The method I will be using to receive and monitor feedback is the “send feedback” link on the library’s homepage. I can maintain my collection by adding new information and material to the library as it becomes available to the Oxford Historical Society.